Judicial Treatment of Religous-only Marriages under English Law

This paper examines how judges of courts in England and Wales treat religious-only marriages, particularly Muslim marriages (nikāḥ). It analyses how judges have approached nikāḥ-based unions under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, distinguishing between valid, void, and non-qualifying ceremonies. Drawing on leading judicial authorities from the 1960s to 2025, I trace the transformation of judicial reasoning from questions of formality and jurisdiction to issues of human rights, equality, and non-discrimination. I argue that the insistence of judges on legal formalities has produced a dual system: one that privileges state-sanctioned forms of Anglican Christian and civil marriages while leaving other religious-only and humanist unions without legal protection. The paper concludes that the challenge is not merely one of doctrinal classification but of reconciling multiple legal norms within a secular framework that aspires to equality, inclusion, and neutrality regarding religious practices.